LED Flares

LED FLARES ARE A LAKE-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE
FOR RING OF FIRE

LEARN ABOUT LED FLARES

Every summer, incendiary highway flares created the beautiful red glow we know and love during the Ring of Fire. While creating an exciting fizz and bright light, they also leave behind potassium perchlorate burn-off, which contaminates the air, soil, and lake, in addition to leaving behind metal spikes that can pollute the lake. We are happy to share that many participants have switched to an environmentally-friendly LED flare. Learn more about them and their benefits below. 

The Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association has found an environmentally sensitive alternative to traditional (burning/incendiary) flares without compromising tradition: we invite all Canandaigua lake-side residents to join with the numerous area lakes that have taken a pledge to convert to LED flares, cutting down on the use of approximately 77,000 incendiary flares. 

In 2017, CLWA stopped selling incendiary flares as a fundraiser to align with our mission to protect the lake’s water quality and shores from environmental hazards. 

Consider a lake-friendly flare this year. What’s a lake-friendly flare? It is an LED flare that is re-useable, shines long into the night, has a flicker mode, and can be seen one mile across the lake–all without leaving a chemical residue. These units resemble traditional flares and average approximately 90 to 100 hours of run time on regular or re-chargeable +AAA batteries. Although more expensive than the chemical flares, LED flares can save money over time because they are re-useable from year to year and can be used in a vehicle or boat.

One more thing:  Please recycle your batteries. Recycling batteries keeps dangerous materials out of landfills. Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel. If released, these metals may be harmful to humans and the environment. Check with your town or trash hauler to find out if they can separate batteries that you divert from your trash.

Features to consider:

  • Ultra-bright LEDs
  • Magnetic base securely holds flares
  • Durable, reusable, multi-purpose
  • 3 light modes: solid red, strobe red and flashlight
  • Safe for the whole family
  • No mess with easy cleanup

Photo by Steve Butler